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Greek

Stater coin

Neapolis was a colony founded to mine the precious metals of Mount Pangaeus, the mythical home of the Gorgons. Gorgons like the one pictured on this coin were mythological beings with snakes for hair whose glance turned men to stone. Despite this fierce reputation, gorgons were believed to protect Mount Pangaeus, and thus the livelihood of the Greeks living there. This coin ther fore is a unique example of the patron deity type. The gorgon shown was believed to have protected the very substance of which it was made.